T is for Tinker
by Phantom T.K. Genos
Summary: After the Enchantress's defeat Tinker Knight has been working in his tower non-stop. It would seem that Tinker just forgot how one can have a good time outside of one's work, so Propeller Knight goes to explain it. [Follows Lksci's AU]
1. T is for tour

_Here goes nothing_ – _I couldn't help but to write a fanfiction once I finished reading Lksci's "S is for Shovel, K is for Knight". I couldn't resist it. Shovel Knight is owned by Yacht Club Games, but this story is mine._

* * *

Ever since the fall of the Enchantress and subsequent disband of the fearsome Order of No Quarter Tinker Knight had been working in his Clockwork Tower like nothing happened. Almost. With no knights of the Order to distract him, Tinker was able to confine himself in his tower for days, weeks even, being dedicated to completion of the most complicated mechanisms he ever built... like the doors that open automatically once someone walks towards it.

"Salut, Tinker Knight! Nice doo-"

The mechanic jumped on his stool, throwing his wrench at the source of the noise in self-defense... knocking Propeller Knight down on the floor. Tinker Knight blinked a few times only to sigh and go for his first-aid kit once he realized the captain of the Flying Machine didn't wear his famed helicopter-helmet that now lied on the floor beside him. The small knight found strength to drag his former comrade to a bed of sorts, where he tended to the wound on Propeller Knight's forehead, disinfecting and bandaging it. Seeing how the bandage got soaked in blood in a few seconds, Tinker Knight thought it wasn't that stupid to use his wrench-boomerangs against other knights like Shovel Knight or Specter Knight in battle.

After finally getting done with the first-aid, Tinker Knight went to put the kit back and decided to just sit down for a moment and wait for the frenchman to wake up.

"Ugh... ma tête..." Propeller Knight moaned in pain, regaining his consciousness. The frenchman touched his bandaged head, clenching his teeth. "What was... That?"

"That was a wrench," Tinker Knight noted, handing the captain his helmet. "Why didn't you cover your head?"

"Ah, this..." Propeller Knight massaged his head, seemingly trying to jog his memories. "I believe someone tampered with my helmet – the controls are stuck. And you're about the only mechanic around I know that could-"

"I see," Tinker Knight interrupted, already examining the helmet on his worktable. That helmet had always been interesting to the mechanic so he wasn't going to miss a chance to examine it. "By the way, sorry about the wrench. So... What do we have here? Ground and slime got into the inner circuitry... Some dents on some parts... This one has to be replaced entirely... Either a genius had a joke on you or you had a crash lately. You're a lucky one though. I have the exact gears it needs."

"Well... There was an... accident of a..." Propeller Knight never got to finish his phrase when Tinker Knight yelped, getting thrown off by the helicopter.

"Ouch..." that was the tiny man's time to moan in pain as he lied on the floor and watched the helmet float right above him. "You could've turned it off before handing it to me, you know?"

"Ah, sorry for that, _mon ami_ , though I believe I told you the controls were stuck," the flamboyant one apologized, taking the flying headgear and putting it back on his head where it belonged. After that he helped the mechanic from the floor. "I'm amazed how you fixed it in... about five minutes?"

"Well, I have a title to fit," Tinker Knight chuckled a bit.

"By the way, I haven't seen you around for quite a while. When was the last time you actually went somewhere outside of that élégant tower of yours?"

Tinker folded him arms, trying to remember that one.

"I believe... It would be... Let's see. That would be our last dinner at the Tower of Fate... Before Plague Knight demolished it. Yes. That's about it."

" _C'est de la folie!_ " Propeller Knight jumped where he stood. "You've got to be kidding! It's been a month and a half ago!"

The mechanic froze on the spot. He never realized he'd been confined to his tower for so long.

"Whether you like it or not, you're going with me on a walk! Or a fly..." the captain of the Flying Machine announced, catching and putting the small knight in his armpit. "You won't believe how Pridemoor changed in that month! You probably don't even know what happened the next day after the event! I'll give you a tour! We could visit other former members of the Order, don't you think?"

"Put me down! I have work to do! Machines to design!" Tinker Knight's protests were all in vain.

The determined frenchman marched to the top of the tower to return to the Flying Machine that was hovering nearby waiting for its captain. By the time Propeller Knight actually reached the roof the mechanic did resign himself to his fate and even utilized the power of positive thinking. With Propeller Knight giving him a tour around Pridemoor he could actually have some descend rest, more than a simple four-hour sleep. Meeting other knights wasn't really that bad of a perspective too. Thinking about it, Tinker had to admit he actually felt a bit lonely without them. His workers, most of whom left once the Order was disbanded, were a little of company to him.

"Come to think of it, I don't even know their names..." Tinker Knight thought, glancing at his masked workers: several Cogslotter, the bulk of his forces, about three of four Gear Wizzems and a single Rungstrider. All of them watched as their boss was being carried out by a former knight of the Order of No Quarter.

"I'll be back in a few days, keep everything running, please," Tinker announced on his way receiving some nods.

"I heard Treasure Knight gave up his mercenary lifestyle. They say he helps an old man... or an old bird doing his business, can you believe that?" Propeller Knight went on talking to Tinker Knight, who actually had nothing to say. "I actually have been on my way to tour myself, now that my crew and I visited our homeland. But... the more the merrier, don't you think?"

"Well, I guess I could use a change of scenery..." Tinker Knight admitted. Surely, the other knight was satisfied with that kind of response. "Perhaps I'll find something useful on my way. Just don't bother me too much during the trip itself."

"Oh, don't worry, my petit friend, the crew of the Flying Machine will ensure that your trip is most pleasant." Propeller Knight reassured the mechanic.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

* * *

 _"Gratuitous French" translations:_

 _ma tête – my head_

 _C'est de la folie! - This is madness!_


	2. I is for ideas

"It's not like something changed in there..." Tinker Knight noted skeptically, while walking through the halls of the glorious Flying Machine. Propeller Knight simply shrugged in response.

"It's not like I'd _change_ something in there," the frenchman answered. "I love my ship the way she is."

"You still haven't married it, have you?" the tiny knight chuckled. The captain of the ship replied with a hearty laugh, beaming with a smile. The helmet was now in the same armpit that once held Tinker Knight himself.

"So, any suggestions for our course?" Propeller Knight asked. Tinker went silent for a few moments, scratching his welding mask while thinking.

"Perhaps, we could visit someone close by?" Tinker Knight actually suggested. "Polar Knight on the Stranded Ship or, perhaps, Mole Knight in the Lost City... He's still there, isn't he?"

"From what I've heard Mole Knight founded a base in the Lost City," Propeller Knight shook his head. "You see, the village that Specter Knight turned into his Lich Yard was Mole Knight's home once, so by the time the Enchantress was defeated Mole Knight had no place to return to. Not to mention that the Lost City happened to go deeper underground so his team still has a lot of work to do."

"Now that's a dedicated man!" Tinker Knight actually respected Mole Knight who was about as dedicated to his paleontologic duty as Tinker himself had been to his duty of an innovative mechanic.

" _Was zum Teufel?!"_

"Oh, that's Albrecht for you," Propeller Knight chuckled in his nobleman style once again, seeing his stressed second-in-command. "Now I'll have to explain everything. You do remember Albrecht, don't you?"

"Vhat the hell happened? Vhy are you in a-"

"Calm down, mon ami, I just happened to trip in Tinker Knight's tower, that's all," Propeller Knight reassured the hoverhaft just in time before the latter went to blame Tinker Knight for that. The mechanic had already tensed to other man's behavior, ready to utilize his trusty self-defense wrench. Luckily, Propeller Knight's intervention prevented a possible disaster, he still remembered a fight Tinker Knight gave against Shovel Knight in the Tower of Fate, almost crushing the other knights under his Destroyer.

"Tinker Knight was kind enough to repair my helmet so I decided to repay him by taking him on a tour!" Propeller Knight explained. The mentioned mechanic started to think that submitting himself to the flamboyant frenchman wasn't the best of his ideas. "We intend to visit all of our 'friends' back from the days of the Order."

"You know, now that I think about it we could probably start with Mole Knight's Lost City!" Tinker Knight suddenly blurted out. "He's right there after all – it wouldn't take us long to visit him."

"I wonder if he'll take part in our tour..." Propeller Knight muttered as the knights continued their way deep into the Flying Machine while Albrecht went elsewhere to do something important that had to be done.

"Hold it a second..." Tinker hooked on the idea. "You know... I have a brilliant idea! What if we hold a party for the former Order?"

"...it seems that your solitary confinement hit you harder than I thought," Propeller Knight noticed in surprise. "Two months ago if someone suggested you of all people would suggest to hold a party, I'd consider that person stupider than King Knight. But here we are..."

"Hey! Just because I didn't like that Valentine's Day of yours or that celebration of whatever gifts the Yacht Gods gave you that never meant I disliked parties altogether!" Tinker Knight protested. "Anyway, we could hold a party on your Flying Machine, don't you think? It's large, the view up there is actually nice and..."

"You know, it's a great idea, Tinké!" Propeller Knight exclaimed. "Oh, perhaps we could even gather some extra guests like Shovel Knight himself! Oh, it'll be much more pleasant to have him here as a guest rather than an enemy crushing everything on his way. Maybe we can get those Wandering Travelers too! That'll be a fantastique party!"

" _Tinké_?" Tinker Knight questioned the nicknamed given to him. The frenchman shrugged in response. "How do you... Even..."

"You know, 'Tinker Knight' is too formal and too long. Have you ever thought about getting yourself a nickname?" Propeller Knight said. "Do you know how Mona nicknamed Plague Knight? 'Plaguey'. That's cute, don't you agree?"

"So... The point is... that I'm cute?" now the mechanic was totally puzzled. That way he won another hearty laugh from his 'trusty' companion.

/*a bit later, Lost City*/

"Hmm... I see. What about the first western level? Perhaps we could dig to the second northern there without disrupting that lava channel that got its way there." Mole Knight discussed a situation that required his direct instructions. A group of visitors got trapped in one of the parts of the Lost City and had to be rescued before everything could collapse on them. "How could they possibly collapse that part anyway? I was sure that one was the most stable."

Mole minions and liquid samurais shook their heads or shrugged. Since the Enchantress's defeat liquid samurais became just another common race of Pridemoor, working here and there. A large number of them actually worked for Mole Knight whom they established as their representative with him being about the only person in Pridemoor to learn their language.

"Well..." Mole Knight sighed. "I'll deal with that myself – that'll be much quicker since these are just three persons. Midori, I want the elevator repaired by the time I'm done."

" _Hai!_ "

/*at the same time, in another part of the Lost City*/

"You know, we're all happy to see you... But that welcoming explosion was unnecessary, really." Propeller Knight sighed and shook his head. Both he and Tinker Knight came across Plague Knight on their way to meet Mole Knight... and the alchemist overreacted about the same way as Tinker Knight but with a bomb instead of a wrench. As a result, all three got trapped in a cavern of a sort... And Propeller Knight got a fine dent on his helmet.

"Why did you even travel there?" Tinker Knight asked trying to fix the dent on the flying headgear with his wrench. As far as the mechanic knew, Plague Knight wasn't the type of person to visit his 'friends'... About the same type of person as Tinker himself. Probably that resemblance helped them to avoid a direct confrontation during Plague's quest for essences. Surprisingly, Plague Knight got silent and started to finger-twiddle shyly in response to the question.

"Well... hee-hee... You see... I..." the alchemist muttered. "I wanted to notify Mole Knight of my wedding."

"Wedding?!" both knights gasped. Tinker Knight even dropped Propeller Knight's helmet in shock, only to notice that the fall made another dent. Groaning, the tiny knight went to fix his nasty mistake.

"So you and Mona finally got to that, mon ami! I'm so proud!" Propeller Knight couldn't help but hug the bird-like knight forcing a squeak from him and a laugh from the mechanic nearby. "We're invited, aren't we?"

"By the way, where are you going to celebrate? With all the guests I believe you'll invite... It's not like you have place in one of your laboratories," Tinker Knight pondered.

"Hee-hee..." Plague Knight tensed noticeably. "Well... We thought that we could... rent Propeller Knight's Flying Machine? That date aboard it didn't go too bad, hee?"

There was a surprisingly unsettling silence for a moment until Tinker interrupted it to continue his attempts to set the helmet right.

"Funny, me and Tinké here thought about holding a party on board..." Propeller Knight smirked. "Quelle coïncidence! Now we have a really good occasion!"

Before Propeller Knight could rant about that 'coincidence' (and annoy the two scientists trapped alongside with him) he was suddenly struck down by Mole Knight who literally flew out of the wall. The frenchman fell and lost his consciousness once more. Tinker Knight shook his head and went back to fixing the headgear in his hands.

"You guys?" Mole Knight was surprised beyond words seeing three of his 'friends' in one place. As he saw Plague Knight the pieces of a puzzle titled 'How in the world could that corridor collapse?' finally got together... and blew up. "So, what leads you there?"

"First you take Propeller Knight and re-bandage his head," Tinker Knight instructed. "Then Plague Knight explains the situation and then I finish with that goddamned helmet!" the mechanic lost his temper with the helicopter-on-a-hat trying to fix the dents with but a wrench realizing eventually that even his genius couldn't do that type to magic... as the last wrench blow to the helmet ricocheted and made Tinker a dent on his own welding mask. "...you do have a hammer in there somewhere, right? Tell me you do. I'll _need_ that."

* * *

 _Gratuitous translations:_

 _Was zum Teufel?! - What the hell?!_

 _Hai! - Yes!_

 _Quelle coïncidence! - What a coincidence!_


End file.
